One Day at a Time
by Demac11
Summary: Emmett makes a terrible mistake that causes Rosalie to fall out of love with him.  They are both dealing with broken hearts, but only Emmett puts forth the effort to fix what he has ruined.  Can he bring back the unbreakable love they used to share?
1. Chapter 1

Emmett cupped his hand under her chin. "So I will see you tonight?" He made  
her promise.

Rosalie gave him a smile that seemed to belong among the stars. "Of course  
you will Don't do anything stupid," she added, scolding him playfully. If  
she had a heartbeat, it would be pounding out of her chest.

He gave her a gentle kiss, their lips lingering. Then he turned and ran  
with speed belonging only to vampires from the house. He climbed into the  
front of the over-sized jeep he claimed as his own. It seemed to be one  
fluid motion. He was not nearly as graceful as his 'brother' Edward, but he  
was still more graceful than any human.

He turned the key in the ignition and sighed. Even after hundreds of years,  
a moment away from the blond beauty he called his girlfriend, fiancé, or  
wife was hard to bear. He drove fast, faster than the speed limit by nearly  
double. Before long, he was halfway through Seattle.

His eyes were unfocused until suddenly, his eyes jerked to the sidewalk. He  
slammed the brakes and the car stopped halfway up on the sidewalk. His  
black eyes, declaring his thirst, scanned the large crowds. He smelled  
them, but something else stood out. Something familiar. He had smelled it  
only twice before.

Emmett followed the aroma down the street and immediately noticed who it  
was. A young boy, about 6, trotted down the street next to his mother. He  
immediately began planning. It would take merely his mother glancing away  
for a second. He could sweep in easily, carrying the boy somewhere far  
away, somewhere he could satisfy the desire to quench his thirst.

He tried to rebuke himself, but the incredible thirst for this boy's unique  
blood overpowered his will. His mother glanced to the right and before  
Emmett could stop himself, his arm were locking the boy against his large  
chest. They were nearly a mile outside the city a few minutes later. The  
boy's eyes were opened wide with terror. His mouth was frozen in an "O" at  
the incredible speed at which Emmett had run.

Emmett's muscles rippled with the intense thirst that overpowered him. "What's  
wrong?" The boy whispered through his fright. A slight breeze moved his  
hair a bit; the need overpowered the large vampire. A moment later, the  
boy's screams subsided.

The drained body lay in Emmett's arms for several minutes before he began to  
see through his crazed thoughts. He stood, the boy's body in his arms. If  
he was able to cry, tears would drench the empty body. He shook with anger  
at himself. Unable to control himself any longer, he lay the body on the  
ground and ran superhumanly fast back to his jeep.

"Help me!" A voice screamed from near his jeep. "I can't find my son!" The  
driver's door flew open in his hand and he slid into the seat. Before he  
even knew where he was going, he was back in the driveway where he lived.

Alice, Esme, Carlisle, and Rosalie stood waiting for him.

Alice looked guilty. Esme looked concerned. Carlisle looked worried. Rosalie  
looked angry. Her forehead creased. Her golden eyes burned with fury. Her  
chest rose and fell quickly with each angry huff.

"A child?" She screamed at him as he climbed from the car.

"Rosalie-"

"What the hell is your problem? A freaking child, Emmett." Her voice  
burned with anger.

"I didn't-"

"Emmett! It's not like this is the first time! But a child? You've taken  
it too far. You are immature. You don't freaking think before you do. You  
are irresponsible!"

"Rosalie, I didn't plan this. I'm so sorry. It was only one little slip  
up-"

"One? ONE! Emmett, I'm not just talking about right now. You are a joke.  
You are never serious, never. You don't even take our relationship serious.  
You are always forgetting my birthday and our anniversaries-"

"I only forgot one," he interrupted defensively.

"Shut up," she ordered furiously. He glanced out of the corner of his eye  
and realized the rest of his family was gone.

"Rosalie, I'm begging you-"

"I hate you." His heart shattered.

He walked back into the house with his head hanging. Out of the corner of  
his, he recognized Bella's figure sitting rigidly on the couch.

"Emmett? Do you need a shoulder to lean on?" Bella said with a sympathetic  
look on her face.

"I'm going to go talk to Carlisle for a little bit," he said in a strained  
voice.

He ran up the stairs to Carlisle's office before she could speak to him  
again. He didn't want to have to listen to a woman's voice.

The lean,blond man stood up when Emmett entered. "Emmett, are you okay?"

"No it's hit the fan." He slumped into the chair across Carlisle's desk and  
leaned over, shoulders shaking with his weeping. "I've really screwed up  
this time. A child? I wasn't thinking. I couldn't... I couldn't control  
myself. It took over..."

Carlisle looked at the big, burly man. In that moment, he felt his pain.  
It seemed to radiate off of him. Not even a man of such size could hold in  
so much pain.

He walked around the big wooden desk and laid his hand on Emmett's shoulder.  
"Emmett, I know how much of a trying time this is, but you cannot fall apart  
over this. You have to be strong and hold it together as much as you can in  
order to fix this."

Emmett looked up at him with pleading eyes. "I'm not... I'm not strong  
enough. Please, help me..."

Carlisle looked right into his eyes, "I will help you as much as you need,  
my son. But I can't fight this battle for you. You will have to work this  
out on your own. But I will be here for you no matter wh."

Emmett's eyes filled with a strange relief. "Thank you, thank you so much."  
He sat there awkwardly, indecision clouding his mind.

"Emmett," he said seriously.

"Yes?" He replied intensely.

"I know it will be nearly impossible, but she needs space. Smile. Fill her  
gas tank up for her. Little things for now. Otherwise, don't have direct  
contact. She needs breathing room. She's panicking just as much as you."

Emmett's forehead broke out into a cold sweat. A minute away from her  
pained his heart, but to completely avoid her would be the hardest thing he  
had ever had to endure.

Rosalie lay motionless, face down on the bed her and her husband usually  
shared.

_How could he do this? I trusted him to stay in control. I thought he was  
stronger that all of this. I love him and I would do anything for him but he  
has gone too far._

A little boy. 6 YEARS OLD? I thought he was above all of that. I would have  
been more understanding if it were an adult, but to hurt a child? That's not  
the Emmett I fell in love with.


	2. Chapter 2

Rosalie sat as still as a statue, her beautiful eyes darker than Carlisle found safe. She hadn't hunted since 'the accident'. Her throat craved the quenching blood and her eyes sang the need out. Carlisle observed her silently as the piano continued to ring out in the background. Every once in a while, a tiny flick of a page turning could be heard between notes as Edward flitted through the sheet music.

"That was beautiful," Carlisle said when the song had reached it's end. Edward gave a crooked smile. "Thank you." The elder nodded in response. Esme began to gush about how much she adored Edward and his talent; Bella and Edward could be heard laughing every few sentences. He rose from his seat upon the leather couch and glanced at Rosalie.

"Come to my office," he said in a quite voice to her. He was sure only Rosalie had heard, but Edward could surely hear his thoughts from the other side of the room. Him and the son in question met eyes for a brief moment before Carlisle's swift feet carried him up the stairwell.

He sat at his desk, not expecting Rosalie to meet him for quite a while. Carlisle's trained eyes scanned the document in his hand from the hospital. He would be on call for two days of the following week, but that was not too much of a concern. He had no need for sleep anyways.

A small breeze flew into his office at the silent opening and closing of the door. He did not look up from the paper until Rosalie spoke a moment later. "Carlisle," she said in her angelic voice. Usually, her voice was soft and gentle, but he could hear the needs behind her voice.

"Rosalie," he replied quietly. He wished so badly to pull her into a hug and comfort her, but he knew Rosalie too well. She didn't need to be babied. She wanted someone who she could talk to, but not someone nosy. She wanted advice, but she didn't want to accept help. He had to wait for her to be ready to talk.

"Can I ask you something?" She said finally.

"Anything," Carlisle said. He hid it well, but he was eager to know what she would say.

"What did you and Emmett talk about when he came up here? After he came home that night, I mean."

Carlisle froze. He knew he could not tell Rosalie what Emmett had said. That was something he had trusted Carlisle with. But if he didn't say anything to her fast, she would think she could not trust Carlisle enough to talk to him.

"He said he loved you," Carlisle said through tight lips.

"And?" Rosalie said; he knew she wouldn't accept that answer.

"Rosalie," he said softly, "I can't tell you everything he said, just like I promise not to tell him everything you tell me."

She pursed her lips. "Why do you expect me to tell you anything?"

"I don't expect it," he replied calmly. "I just hoped you would. It's not good to keep things bottled in, Rosalie."

Her blond curls shook with her head. "You'll tell Emmett," she lied. Carlisle gave her a warm smile.

"Have I ever before?" He saw her press her lips together.

"No," she admitted after a moment of silence. He nodded, wondering whether or not she would continue. After another moment of silence, his emotionless eyes looked back down at the document. He knew she needed time.

Her voice came out in a worn whisper. "I can't love someone who…" her sentence cut off. Carlisle looked up at her, but did not press her to continue. She needed to vent when she was ready to. "My whole life," she began, stopping her sentence again.

"My whole life I've wanted children. Emmett knows that. He understands that. He also understands, as do I, that we are unable to have children." Carlisle saw her face crinkle in anguish, but she continued without a pause. "But to take the life of a child? An innocent child?

"How could he? The first two times he slipped up, I understood. I loved him-" He noticed the past tense "-and so I let it slide. But a child? How can I forgive a man for murdering a child?" She took in a deep, straggling breath. "When Alice told us what he was planning, I thought maybe I loved him enough to forgive him. But when he showed up, and I saw the blood staining his shirt… I realized I couldn't forgive him.

"Carlisle," she begged. "Please understand where I am coming from. I loved him more than the whole world, more than anything. He was the only reason I'm existing today. I would have done anything for him. Nothing could have made me stop loving him. Except this."

He waited a moment to be sure her rant was over. When he was sure, he sat perfectly still. "I see," he said calmly. "You used the word loved a lot. Past tense." It was not a question, but a statement. He was clearing up her point of view.

Her face got completely blank of emotion. "I know." Carlisle felt hatred emanating off of her. She was clearly still angry, and not ready to forgive him.

"What are you going to do next?" He asked her. He saw her face flash with a few strange emotions, but they were gone before he could even be sure he saw them. Anger? Sadness? Regret?

"I'm not leaving, if that's what you're implying," she replied at last.

Carlisle gave her a warm smile. "I should hope not. We would miss you too much."

Her face seemed to lift at his words. "I guess we'll just see what happens."

He hesitated, a few thoughts popping into his head at once. "Might I suggest a few things?" He inquired.

Rosalie looked unsure. She bit her lip. "I guess," she replied at last.

"First, you need to go hunting. You're looking very unhealthy, which is not good for you or for the humans around you," he said with his eyebrows creased.

"Got it," she said. He could tell she saw the need.

"Second," he continued, "You need to talk to someone. Someone whose name is not Carlisle. Either Alice, or Bella, or Esme."

He watched as Rosalie thought for a moment. "Got it." He could tell she was thinking, but her face left no indication of her thoughts.

"Third, I want you to forgive him-"

"No," she immediately interrupted.

"Not right now," he agreed. "But be lenient. His heart is breaking-"

"He broke mine first," she said sternly before darting out of his office. Carlisle sighed, opening a book laying on the corner of his desk. He needed time to himself.

"Carlisle?" He heard a small voice say. "Yes?" He answered, his time alone dissipating instantly. Bella and Edward's daughter, Nessie, sauntered into the room.

He grinned. "Hello," he said to her. "What are you up to?"

"I want to play baseball again."


End file.
